Shutter Island (2010)-Scorsese and the Unreliable Narrator

Shutter Island. I'll admit, it's certainly much, much different than what I was expecting for a 1950's-esque film noir detective movie but with Scorsese behind the wheel, I was not disappointed. The movie stars Scorsese's long time favorite actor Leonardo DiCaprio as the gritty Federal Marshal Teddy Daniels taking on the case of a missing psyche patient on the isolated mental institution of Shutter Island. The island itself is built as an institution to rehabilitate the criminally insane headed by Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley) whose medical practices appear not only questionable but as the film progresses even morally objectionable from a psychological standpoint. Along the way, Teddy Daniels discovers a conspiracy among the inmates and staff set to shake even his own fragile mental state.

Scorsese does an excellent job of working in elements of the unreliable narrator into this film that begs for a second viewing to really savor the seeds of doubt present in the film's climax. We have an excellent cast of actors. DiCaprio gives, once again, a compelling performance along with fellow actor Ben Kingsley. In some ways, I have to lament on the career of Kingsley because he is a notable actor who every so often ends up appearing in some awful movies (*cough*-BloodRayne-*cough*-The Love Guru). This isn't to say he's an awful actor but when you've won an Oscar for playing Mohandas Gandhi then perhaps you can skip the script where the protagonist is based on a video game character who made her fame on being a bisexual dhampir who kills Nazi vampires.

In any case, Shutter island is certainly not for every viewer. It starts out as a detective drama but builds much more into a psychological drama. Likewise, Scorsese creates enough twists and turns in the psychological journey of DiCaprio's character that ultimately makes him an unreliable narrator. Most audiences don't like a narrator that is untrustworthy. This doesn't mean that DiCaprio is playing a liar in the conventional sense but given the fragile state of his character, you will certainly be confused as to who is ultimately crazier, the protagonist or the other residents of Shutter Island. With the build-up of hallucinations and the deeper DiCaprio gets to the truth of Shutter Island, the harder it is to sometimes follow who is sane and who isn't but all this is done intentionally and even artfully so. In the end, you will leave the theater in a more somber tone than you had originally entered.

4 out of 5: Certainly an enjoyable piece of psychological drama with an atmosphere so thick you could cut a knife with.